Fox News files an amicus brief on behalf of CNN's Acosta as Trump administration claims journalists don't have a right to access the White House

Fox News President Jay Wallace has announced that the cable news channel will file an Amicus brief in support of White House correspondent Jim Acosta and his employer CNN. Acosta’s press credentials were revoked after a testy exchange with President Donald Trump at a post-midterms press conference, and CNN Communications is thanking its competitor for the brief.

Wallace officially announced, “We intend to file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court. Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized. While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the president and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”

The right-wing Fox News has been much more favorable to Donald Trump’s presidency than CNN—where hosts like Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo have been persistent Trump critics—or the liberal-leaning MSNBC.

“Thank you @FoxNews!,” CNN Communications asserted in a November 14 tweet.

CNN has filed a lawsuit over Acosta losing his press credentials, and the White House has responded that it has some discretion when it comes to deciding which journalists are granted access to White House press events and which ones are not.

“No journalist has a First Amendment right to enter the White House, and the president need not survive First Amendment scrutiny whenever he exercises his discretion,” the Department of Justice asserted in its filing.

According to the DOJ filing, the White House and President Trump have a “broad discretion” when it comes to deciding “which journalists receive interviews, or which journalists they acknowledge at press conferences."

At a White House press conference on Wednesday, November 7—the day after the midterms—the president grew angry when Acosta asked him about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia-related investigation. Trump barked at Acosta, “I tell you what: CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN.”

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Alex Henderson is a news writer at AlterNet and veteran political journalist. His work has also appeared in Salon, Raw Story, Truthdig, National Memo, Philadelphia Weekly, Democratic Underground, L.A. Weekly, MintPress News and many other publications. Follow him on Twitter @alexvhenderson.